At a Q&A session during this year’s E3, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata spoke on why his company will not include DVD or Blu-ray playback in their upcoming game console.

“The reason for that is that we feel that enough people already have devices that are capable of playing DVDs and Blu-ray, such that it didn’t warrant the cost involved to build that functionality into the Wii U because of the patents related to those technologies,” Iwata told analysts.

Nintendo’s current console, Wii, doesn’t support DVD or Blu-ray playback. However, it does allow for Netflix streaming. Both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 offer Netflix as well, but Microsoft’s console supports DVD playback, while Sony’s PlayStation 3 supports both DVD and Blu-ray playback.

Analysis: Though I admire Nintendo for sticking to their “we’re Nintendo, we only play games” mantra, I must admit it would be nice to for once be able to pop in a DVD, or a Blu-ray disc for that matter, into a Nintendo console. I don’t own a Blu-ray player, and granted – I don’t speak for the millions of people who do. It would just be cool for a Nintendo console to be my one-stop shop for all things entertainment.

Of course, the lack of DVD/Blu-ray support is no deal breaker – at the end of the day, people just want to play games, in addition to saving an extra buck. The inclusion of Blu-ray would no doubt up the cost on each Wii U console, and making the transition to Wii U probably wouldn’t be as seamless for those already comfortable with the affordability of the Wii. Though Wii U is definitely playing more towards the hardcore this time around, I’m sure Nintendo doesn’t want to scare off its casual audience by making them pay extra for something they really don’t care for.

Bottom line: Though Blu-ray would be cool to have, it’s really not that important in a game console. DVD players come a dime a dozen, and can be purchased fairly cheap. I assume DVD sales will soon plummet, while Blu-ray will become the new standard.

About Donavan Tucker

Before you wish for things like DVD and Blu Ray playback, consider just what that would do to the cost of a system that’s already looking to be pretty freaking expensive.

http://retroidpress.tumblr.com Donavan Tucker

That’s pretty much what I was trying to get across in this article. Although it would be cool to have Blu-ray, having it in the new console would surely “up the cost.” I can agree that, with all of the recent tidbits coming out, it is looking to go hard on our wallets. It’s likely that millions of DVD/Blu-ray owners will buy Wii U, and it would be a little unfair for them to pay extra for something they already have.

Joshua Moore

Let’s not forget that the license to make blu-ray players legally, I believe is owned by Sony.